7.62x54 case splitting

mossberg500man

July 06, 2013 10:38

Was at the range today and trying out some communist surplus and had a lot of cases split at the neck is this common or? I've shot brown bear and wolf through my rifle no problem before

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  charliemeyer007

  July 06, 2013 10:54

  Sounds like poor annealing/work hardening issue with that lot. Do the spent primers look normal and did the report seem ok?

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  mossberg500man

  July 06, 2013 12:30

  Yes normal primer strike and report so it might just be bad anealing or workmanship

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  rufe-snow

  July 06, 2013 13:52

  Some of the old Warsaw Bloc ammo, is in poor condition. It dates to the 50's or earlier? And has been stored under questionable conditions.
  
  I was disassembling some of the "Heavy Ball", machine gun ammo for the components, awhile back. The powder in the cases was so deteriorated it was almost in a solid mass, not individual grains.

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  beantownshootah

  July 06, 2013 16:35

  Assuming your gun is otherwise OK, I'd chalk this up to a bad lot of ammo.
  
  There is a LOT of 7.62x54R still floating around out there from most of the Commie-bloc countries, and its not all good. (Its typically steel cased, by the way, with "brass" being copper washed steel).
  
  But its not all bad.
  
  I've recently tried some of the Bulgarian surplus, in SPAM type cans from the 1970s, and the ammo was absolutely pristine, looking like it came out of the factory yesterday. I mean perfect gleaming cases, bullets, and lacquered primers. I even cracked one open and the powder looked perfect.

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  11b6r

  July 06, 2013 23:50

  In GENERAL- a case split vertically at neck- ammo
  Split running AROUND the case- rifle.

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  TRAP55

  July 07, 2013 10:10

  The older brass case Bulgarian surplus is notorious for neck and shoulder splits. Some of it was re-packaged Chinese surplus.In my SVT-40 the cases would separate below the shoulder on extraction.
  What's the head stamp on your ammo, and is it brass or steel case?

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  mossberg500man

  July 07, 2013 18:48

  quote:Originally posted by TRAP55
  The older brass case Bulgarian surplus is notorious for neck and shoulder splits. Some of it was re-packaged Chinese surplus.In my SVT-40 the cases would separate below the shoulder on extraction.
  What's the head stamp on your ammo, and is it brass or steel case?
  copper washed steel I'm pretty sure and I don't know check when I get home

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  jonk

  July 08, 2013 11:00

  Happens a lot. Old poorly made cases are to blame. If you aren't seeing any pressure signs there's no reason not to shoot it, a cracked neck isn't going to hurt anything.

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